“They took out the rakes, the fans and the heaters on the field,” Brook said. “Everyone looks at the wicket and says something different… Hopefully it’s like any other Pakistan pitch. It’s good to keep hitting for the first few days and then hopefully we can get some momentum at the back.” End of game.”

“I think the conditions will be a little different,” Brook said. “Last time we played here on an extremely flat pitch. It was great to hit on and we got a good knot rate. This game will probably be a little different. It could turn sooner: who knows? It could be a… Good pitch to start with and we’ll get to a flyer.”

The lush ground in Rawalpindi may have influenced England’s selection, with the reverse swing unlikely to be a significant factor this week. In Multan, the strips on both sides of the Test pitch were cut short and were dry and abrasive in the second Test, allowing the English seamers to turn over the old ball. This week there are only three strips cut across the course: the test field and two practice fields.

That summer, Rehan was surpassed in the county championship by his young brother Farhan, and his fortunes in white-ball cricket plummeted: after two expensive appearances, he was dropped by Southern Brave at the start of the Hundred and then dropped out of the English T20I out and ODI squad against Australia in September.

Carse and Potts are both officially rested, with Atkinson returning after taking match figures of 4 for 145 in England’s innings victory in the first Test. Carse was England’s standout bowler of the tour, taking nine wickets at 24.33 in his first two appearances, but has bowled 67 overs in the series and played two consecutive Tests.

England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (captain), 7 Jamie Smith (week), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.